THURSDAY COMMENTARY – THE GREY CUP VIBE
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)
IT’S BEEN INTERESTING FOLLOWING GREY CUP WEEK OUT OF HAMILTON.
WHILE WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE – AND I STILL BELIEVE IT’S TRUE – THAT THIS WILL BE A SCALED-DOWN VERSION OF CANADA’S NATIONAL PARTY DUE TO COVID, IT’S STILL GIVING OFF A GREAT VIBE FROM THE HAMMER.
ANNUAL EVENTS LIKE THE CFL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION LEGENDS LUNCH ARE SOLDOUT AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS ARE FILLED WITH PHOTOS OF CFL FANS MIGRATING TO SOUTHERN ONTARIO.
AND, FRANKLY, YOU WOULDN’T KNOW ANYTHING’S OUT OF THE ORDINARY BY THE CFL’S SCHEDULE OF EVENTS. THE GREY CUP TROPHY ARRIVED VIA MILITARY HELICOPTER ON TUESDAY, THE COACHES MET WITH THE MEDIA AS THEY ALWAYS DO ON THE WEDNESDAY MORNING.
(ALTHOUGH THE TIRED TRADITION OF ASKING THE COACHES IF THEY’LL ALLOW THEIR PLAYERS TO HAVE SEX THE NIGHT BEFORE THE GAME NEEDS TO GO. THAT STOPPED BEING FUNNY – AND APPROPRIATE – AT LEAST A DECADE AGO).
THE INSIDERS TELL ME THERE ISN’T NEARLY THE USUAL MEDIA CONTINGENT AT GREY CUP WEEK ALTHOUGH YOU WOULDN’T KNOW IT BY THE AMOUNT OF CONTENT THAT’S BEING CRANKED OUT OF STEELTOWN.
THE BIGGEST BUZZ IN FOOTBALL CIRCLES IS THAT TICATS COACH ORLONDO STEINAUER WILL BE LEAVING AFTER SUNDAY’S GAME TO BECOME DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR OF THE WASHINGTON HUSKIES. MY GUESS AS TO WHY THE RUMOUR HASN’T GENERATED MORE HYPE IS THAT THE TICATS DON’T WANT THE DISTRACTION.
AS USUAL, I SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY AND BECAUSE STEINAUER’S SO BELOVED BY HIS PLAYERS, I COULD SEE THIS BEING A MAJOR RALLYING POINT FOR HIS PLAYERS. THEY’RE GOING TO NEED ALL THE MOTIVATION THEY CAN GET TO BEAT WINNIPEG.
AND THE BET-REGAL POINT SPREAD HAS SWELLED A BIT FROM MONDAY’S OPENING LINE, WITH THE BOMBERS NOW BEING FAVOURED BY 3.5-POINTS.
I WONDER WHY THE ODDSMAKERS ARE EVEN MORE CONFIDENT IN WINNIPEG NOW THAN MONDAY? THE ONLY THING THAT’S CHANGED IS HAMILTON NAMING DANE EVANS AS THEIR STARTING QUARTERBACK.
PERHAPS THEY KNOW SOMETHING WE DON’T.
THEY USUALLY DO.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)
(Photo: CFL)
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